Seven Sisters (Massachusetts)

This article is about a mountain ridge in Massachusetts. For all other uses, see Seven Sisters.
Seven Sisters
Highest point
Elevation 945 ft (288 m) (highest point)
Parent peak 42° 18' 17"N, 72° 33' 11"W
Coordinates 42°18′08″N 72°34′51″W / 42.30222°N 72.58083°W / 42.30222; -72.58083 to 42°18′17″N 72°33′11″W / 42.30472°N 72.55306°W / 42.30472; -72.55306
Geography
Location Hadley and South Hadley, Massachusetts.
Parent range Holyoke Range / Metacomet Ridge
Geology
Age of rock 200 million yrs.
Mountain type fault-block; igneous
Climbing
Easiest route Mount Holyoke auto road + Metacomet-Monadnock Trail

The Seven Sisters, part of the Holyoke Range and located within the Pioneer Valley region of Massachusetts, are a series of basalt ridgeline knobs between Mount Holyoke and Mount Hitchcock (there are actually more than seven distinct peaks). The knobs offer scenic clifftop views interspersed with oak savanna woodlands. The highest "sister" has an elevation of 945 ft (288 m) and stands 800 ft (244 m) above the valley below. The terrain is very rugged; a continuous walk along the ridgeline includes an overall elevation change of 3,700 ft (1,128 m). The Seven Sisters are traversed by the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail and is part of the New England National Scenic Trail

The Seven Sisters are the location of the Seven Sisters Trail Race every spring, a twelve mile (19 km) "out-and-back" run that often leaves its runners bloody, bruised and exhausted.

In response to a proposed suburban development on the Seven Sisters in the late 1990s, several non-profit groups and local governments worked together to block construction and acquire the ridgeline for the J.A. Skinner State Park.

Coincidentally, the seven sisters are near two of the Seven Sisters Colleges.

See also


Adjacent summits
< West East >
Mount Holyoke
Mount Hitchcock

References

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